August 28, 2010

Pop just released their Fall 2010 issue's covers, which feature a veil-clad, seductively-posed Britney Spears in a flowerbed, shot by Todd Cole with artwork by Takashi Murakami.

They're tacky and gaudy and kitschy and not unlike teen Japanese magazines, and that's the point, and I love it. And she's wearing Rodarte, which sounds so out of context, but makes so much sense visually. Apparently they got Murakami first, and he had this idea of a Japanese schoolgirl vibe, so they then contacted Spears as a result of that. She really is perfect, not only for her young face and blonde hair, but because of her place in pop culture. Using her turned the idea into a real story, and I don't think many other fashion magazines could pull that off.

Unless you've lived in a cave your entire life, and unless you ever wanted to or not, you know The Britney Chronicles pretty well, and one of the most fascinating sides to her product is as a prime example of the ways in which culture builds up celebrities only to tear them down. One commenter on The Fashion Spot compared this to the sacrificing of virgins (and that's before we even get into her virginal-but-sexy image as a teen pop star,) and then linked it to how young, pure, and bride-like she looks in the covers. She's wearing a veil, and bright pink lipstick, and giving that innocent, plastic smile. The cartoons and backpack alone give it all away. It is, in many ways, imitating the way she was sold and perceived when she herself was a teenage girl, but something is different now. Maybe that she's 28 years old.

Many people have noted how much she looks like Courtney Love here, who popularized the Kinderwhore style in the early 90's, dressing in babydoll dresses and Mary-Janes with smeared makeup, messy hair, and baby barrettes. A grown woman following all the requirements of the "female ideal" as dictated by American culture is shocking and disturbing when she ends up bearing a striking resemblance to a little girl. The irony, whether intentional or not, says a lot about how our culture fetishizes young girls, and 20 years later the concept still has its place. Think about how many fashion magazines persist with images of 15 year-old waifs as a point of aspiration for women. And how creepy is it that the American public demands to be so informed on Miley Cyrus's sex life? And yet, it is the public itself that could be to blame for her recent "slutty" behavior -- girls are surrounded with images that tell them their bodies and sexuality are the only factors in their self-worth, so when it comes to trying to establish their identity as a woman, that's what they turn to. It is pretty much written in the How To Grow Up: Teen Girl Pop Star Edition handbook for Cyrus-types to do the same, and Britney Spears is the perfect example.

In 1999, she appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone with a David LaChapelle-lensed spread featuring her in settings such as her childhood bedroom or with props like a hot pink bicycle, wicker basket and all. The teenage aesthetic makes it easy to compare this spread with Pop's, but Spears was 17 when these photos were taken, making the erotic images more Lolita than Kinderwhore in concept. Courtney Love herself once said that it doesn't make sense for actual teenage girls to dress in that little girl style, since they're not too far from the age it satirizes in its message. In fact, concerns questioning the motives behind citing Seiji Matsuyama, whose manga has raised controversy for its depictions of underage characters, as an inspiration for the spread have already come up, but I would say that what Pop did is Kinderwhore-like commentary on that image more than it is playing into it. She's grown up. These covers shock us because, even though this is how we've been used to seeing Britney Spears throughout her entire career, she's finally the one to comment on our culture's disturbing obsession with her.

Maybe I'm reading too much into things that may not even be there, but I tend to overanalyze anyway. This is kind of a rare happening, though. It's not often that fashion magazines offer up a cover that elicits such questions, or could take aspects of society we try to pass off as "the way things are" and shine a light on how creepy it all really is.

Edit:This article includes more analogies between the covers and the notorious Matsuyama work and might be of interest to you if you too are so intrigued by the ideas here. I highly doubt Britney Spears was "bamboozled" into this, though -- like I said, she's older now, and probably knows what she's doing.Photos: Pop covers, RS cover, RS bedroom.

I loved the David LaChapelle RS shoot...I bought it when I was in the sixth grade, and it was my first ever issue of RS. I remember thinking Britney was perfect after seeing that shoot, ha. I still have it.

I was selling sandwiches with a food truck in Brooklyn recently and got snapped for the Japanese mag Fudge. I thought I looked filthy and embarrassing at the time, but when I saw the pic in the mag I realized I looked like a schoolgirl. Also, they wrote a fake bio for me and said I was much younger than I am. Point being, America gets a bad rap for sexualized youth, but we seem to have gotten this whole angle from Japan...

I love your writing. Articles like this and the one addressed to Seventeen magazine open our eyes to what we are exposed to on a daily basis. Values and self respect are so important for girls. That's true beauty

I think that simply the fact POP magazine decided to do a cover like that is important. Important as it talks a lot for itself and it's almost impossible to remain neutral on this subject as it is becoming a serious issue in our society. For example here in Italy all the small girls have for example are nude girls dancing in the TV, it's horrible to think what consequences this can have on this growing generation.. and the thing is we may not know it until they have grown. Unfortunately the pressure in this matter is very strong for the small ones and they do not have any childhood anymore.. I appreciate you wrote though about this, it's important as well!:)

Hey you know I love your blog, and I find it ridiculous to be using the google translator ... Well I'm from Spain, and I would like to visit my blog (yes, in Spanish) Well Tavi, a great blog, I love it:)Big kiss. http://paulaesunagenio.blogspot.com/;)

thank you Tavi for exposing those ideas! i couldn't agree with you more in any aspect. and yes, maybe you're reading too much into things that may not even be there, but i hope, since we're speaking about a POP issue, that it was actually intentional to depict Britney by that idea. otherwise sometimes it's not that bad to "overanalyze" things, because doing so you bring up interesting subjects that our society tends to ignore. (this has become to long sorry) thanks*

I really enjoyed the covers. It makes Britney seem more down to Earth and the covers bring back who she used to be. Which I'm not sure she even knows she did.And once again Tavi, your writing is inspiring. Love it.

I think it looks successfully eerie, any image of Britney is overcast by the dark shadow of what 'media success' costs people in terms of emotional health.

The plastic doll theme certainly emphasises the fact she was sold to the world as a product and the resulting high demand for more had horrendous implications for a girl who grew up wanting to be a popstar.

hard to see that she's 28 underneath all that diffuser. i don't see much ironic refraction here, instead i see the (failed) rewarming of her old image, clad in the imagery of the (huge) japanese schoolgirl/lolicon fetish. it may confront modern society with its omnipresent yet never acknowledged obsession with (female) youth, but not in a forceful or convincing or actually shocking way. these pics sell her the same way she was sold some years ago, imho. sorry. maybe i'm too desensitized already, but it looks rather generic, adding no new angle or any edge to shatter this sugary fairy land scene.maybe Ms Spears really has nothing to offer other than her youthful looks. if she has it surely does not show in this shot. maybe i'm just a cynic. lets see what happens to the next Disney product. and any product needs buyers.

well, for me her earlier photos already were (unintentionally) parodistic in nature. they relied so much on thinly veiled sex whilst claiming to promote her as innocent that you could either call it hypocrisy or parody. since then it seems to have become a PR routine.i can't exactly lay my finger on what forms my opinion about these pics, or even provide valid and unassailable arguments to back my point of view. its more of a feeling, honestly. these fluffy cartoons swirling around Britney are pretty normal for japanese publications targeting certain audiences, though. they are considered moe or kawaii. hope you don't mind me being so frank. either way, your interpretation adds a lot more depth to these photos than mine ^__^ and i think we're not that far apart regarding the general depiction of females in the media. i'm off to bed now, good night.

creapy, i must say! Gives me some weird pedofile thing. I find it so wrong and sick that britney that is around or pushing 30s is giving an image of beeing a young maybe (12 year old) school girl. Im just asking my self, why??? i cant even find words for this, i dont know who this is good for, the old creapy men turning on her innocent come and f*** me look or young lost not even teen girls.

I have to say that I really think this post is extremely interesting. I was just talking about this subject the other day with a friend. And that I'm jealous at how well you organize your thoughts and can write them out (what seems like) so easily for a girl in middle school. I'm sure you get that all the time and it must get old, but you have an amazing future ahead.

I have to say that I really think this post is extremely interesting. I was just talking about this subject the other day with a friend. And that I'm jealous at how well you organize your thoughts and can write them out (what seems like) so easily for a girl in middle school. I'm sure you get that all the time and it must get old, but you have an amazing future ahead.

cancercowboy-I always enjoy your comments, and it was nice to hear someone challenge what I was saying here -- I'm always up for an interesting discussion that I can learn from. Thanks for your insight and for giving me more to think about :)

Great analysis, I wonder if the powers behind this cover were aware of all the layers presented. It’s an onion! Yes it’s creepy that every teen sexual escapade is translated to covers only to be condemned by the same people who create the need for such information in the first place. But then again it is simplistic to assume her “slutty” behavior is a result of the public demands on her, I would like to give her credit to being smarter than that, even if in the end she plays into it. From a very young age girls are bombarded with information to absorb but what results after digesting it all is a mixture not directly a product of one thing but many starting with parents & friends.This reminded me of the Rolling Stones cover with part of the Glee cast with a panty shot courtesy of Leah Michelle (so not necessary), not a big deal if she was being herself but in that particular picture she was representing her character a highschooler, as if teenagers were not sexualized enough as it is. But are girls going to run out to panty flash the world because of that image alone? Not likely.

Hey Tavi you should have a look at melindatankardreist.com. Melinda is an Australian feminist activist for women and girls and she has just started a campaign called 'Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation' to fight the sexualised depiction of girls in pop culture and advertising. Her work is amazing.

I'm in university and we are constantly being encouraged to question and critically think about 'the way things are', it's great your doing this at such a young age. I know you get this all the time but you really are much wiser than your age, no wonder you have such a successful blog!

For years I've found Shoicci Aoki's "Fruit" books to be at once horrifying and fascinating. The Japanese youth culture flies the lurid flag of cheesiness with pride and it's fabulous to see it trotted out here so effectively by POP magazine. You make so many astute points about our fetishizing of teens, and you've put into words something I could not define for myself, but has been gnawing at me for years. As the mother of two girls, I've never been able to look at BS or MS without cringing. I've expressed my dismay with them many times in long rants but never so succinctly as you just have herein. Your command of the language and understanding of the broader concepts of what comprises America's zeitgeist is quite astonishing. I'm going to tell myself that you have a very good editor helping you to hone these concepts, if only because it makes me feel a little less inadequate. :) Keep on keeping on.

It shocks me even more to think people might believe it is, in fact, her body showing (especially on left side cover) because it is without a question totally photoshopped and manipulated. It seems they took her head and put it on another girl's body which is even creepier.

Brilliant post... I actually love the artistic and aesthetic value of these new photos, but something about the magazine text and graphics totally takes away from all of that for me... Its like they're discounting the brilliance of the photos...

IMO the Murakami shots are mostly "kinder" with not so much "whore"...it makes sense that after all Brit's been through, she would want to (consciously or subconsciously) reclaim her own (stolen) youth...Jap/pop culture would provide that vehicle for her, and it happens to be hot in fashion/ popculture now...just right for Britney!

if you want scary "kinderwhore" let's take a peek at whatever's up with TAYLOR MOMSEN....!! ew! & bleh..! Courtney Hole's clone-gone-wrong....

exactly what i have been thinking. as i much as i aspired to be like courtney love when i was in HS, it was right at the beginning of the britney era. i am the same age as britney. i was immediately obsessed with how sexual yet how childlike the media portrayed her. i started collecting photo stickers from 50 cent machines to put on my hairbrush. hell, i even bought 'crossroads' the day it came out on dvd, much to the dismay of my custy punk friends. all that said, i want that magazine so bad. where the hell do i buy it?

Britney is such a diva. My friend is on the slow Glee and Britney has been filming a show for them this past couple weeks. She said that whenever Britney was on set, they were told that non of them were allowed to look at her or talk/whisper at all even to eachother while she was there.

~Liking the point that Pop makes~oh, and pretty much all fashion objectifies women.(Alexander McQueen was really,really good at it.)Why do we have skimpy and hell tank tops and shorts? And way-too short skirts and "dresses"? so that men can look at us easily while we attempt to prance happily in our six inch platforms feeling good about ourselves because were in 'style'.The whole thing is a gigantic ploy to get women to wear as little clothes as possible so that we are easily viewable and to distract them from the truth.happy monday...

Your writings remind of what I have known since I was young - that the brain of 12-13-14 year old humans is exeptionally clear and brilliant..!In the years to come hold on to your self and the way you think - you are very special...

haha this is so great! britney really is perfect for this cover.murakami and his hentai/anime references are getting kind of old for me, but i agree with you, when i look at the photo, i think more about britney and her life than child porn. if only they didnt photoshop her body like that...(the kotaku article was interesting!)

When I first saw these, I thought they were OK - but didn't think something was quite right? On the surface it looked like another kind of pop confection cover - but somehow the images seemed a bit raw?

Your analysis has helped me understand what I think is going on. The colours, textures, cartoons, flowers, hair, skin & make-up are all there - but the expression on (an older, wiser, more battle-hardened) Brtiney's face isn't. It doesn't match.

Everything else is a bit provocative & seductive, but Britney's face (in both pics. but especially in the one on the right)is saying, "Are you still buying all this bullshit?"

I don't really remember how Britney Spears was received when she first came on the scene (being a whole lot more interested in nickelodeon than mtv at the time) but in my memory, she was mainly met with interest more than disapproval. I think the dichotomy between how Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus are perceived has everything to do with well, perception.

1. Whereas Britney was seen solely as a music artist Miley Cyrus is still seen as a child star dabbling in music, despite her pedigree. Everyone knows Hannah Montana, but how many looked at Britney and thought, that's the girl from Mickey Mouse Club?

1.1 Miley Cyrus and company's simultaneous commercialized forays into music, acting, fashion, etc. (Britney was never quite so ADD) cement their reputations as talentless celebrity personalities rather than multitalented entertainers. This further opens them up for ridicule.

2. Although girls who buy into these role models (fortunately it's not everyone) seem to be "maturing" at earlier and earlier ages paradoxically they're perceived to be younger at older ages (a 17 miley dressed in a provocative school girl and for longer (see: paris hilton, britney spears, the future taylor momsen and miley cyrus). They're sexualized, but not woman-ized.

3. The Media: The people who grew up with Britney Spears are now the ones writing about Miley Cyrus. 17 seems like a whole lot as a younger age when you're not anymore. The 20-somethings now who write the blogs and the gossip see Miley and the like young enough to just be little girls, but old enough to inquire about their sexuality. They consistently (subconsciously and consciously) compare her to predecessor Britney whereas Britney didn't really have one. Many speak from the viewpoint of slightly older peers rather than concerned chaperones.

Man this is long. I lost my train of thought. And I think I'm sorta off topic!

*(a 17 miley dressed in a provocative school girl uniform would be seen as much more outrageous even though Britney was the same age when she dressed as such) *and for longer (see: paris hilton, britney spears, the future taylor momsen and miley cyrus). They're sexualized, but not woman-ized.

Aesthetically, I love the pictures, but if you kind analyze it it does get really interesting. I have to wonder if she/Murikami/Pop/whoever makes those sort of decisions intended for it to reference Britney's teenage years or if it was just an aesthetic choice, though it doesn't seem that way.

??????? If it's an ironic image which sophisticated viewers detect is some sort of post-modern comment, it's great, but if it's pretty much the same image but without the wink (or famous/cool artist), it's immoral and basically evil... and in fact is an instance of the public dictating the personal sexual choices of teens like Miley Cyrus??

I hope I don't sound snarky. Honestly, I get a bit frustrated because you seem lovely but you seem to follow a lot of cool/contemporary feminist thinking that just doesn't hold water upon closer analysis. This kind of stance of "Blame mainstream society and its imagery but cool art should be shocking and if that includes demeaning women in an subtly ironic way then great!"is just so sadly familiar and insular to me. Aren't there other ways to be pro-woman (pro everybody!) and feminist? I definitely think so.

I have been enjoying your blog for several months. I started own blog recently. It is called Vicissitudes of the Damned. http://filletofginch.blogspot.comI posted a response to the Kinderwhore piece. I am most anxious to get your feedback and I hope that you become a regular reader.

I like the irony of the cover, it's brave for a fashion mag... but I think a lot of people have over-looked that aspect and comments online seem to indicate that people don't like it just because it's Britney, not realising perhaps there's a message in it rather than the pretty, skinny girl in typical standing pose that they're used to. I like that there's a strong concept here and I'm biased because I luuurve murakami's work.

It's a beautiful cover and great juxtaposition. And your observations are 1005 correct.

The sexual ideals of the hetrosexual male have traditionally dominated art, and continue to dominate the entertainment industry and. I say this with no misandrist agenda or bitterness whatsoever. It's just a fact.

Clara Bow was Hollywoods first offical 'it' girl, and was only a few years older than you at the height of her popularity. The average female prostitute enters her trade at age 13. And scientific studies have proven that adult men are (subconciously) sexually aroused by young adult females who have the softer facial features of 14 year old girls.

Stereotypical genetic hardwiring is always at play, whether we like it or not.

If you haven't read it already, I highly reccomend Nancy Etcoff's 'Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty'.It's easy to read yet full of scientifically backed research on why our beauty standards are the way they are. You'll never look at the human face the same way again!

Great article man, loved it. It reminded me of a Hugh Hefner quote from the 1960s on the subject of feminism.The Heff was claiming he was a feminist, stood up for sexual liberation and all the rest of it, and then said that the Playboy girl was clean, not complicated, happy. He said that was why he chose the image of the bunny - because Playboy girls (and they are definitely 'girls') should be soft and cuddly and easily dissected/analysed. He contrasted this with the negative image of the complex woman wearing dark stockings, smoking and drinking and mysterious.

The idea that a complex woman is not an alluring one is pretty astounding coming from a man who claims to be a feminist.

The full quote can be found in the book Female Chauvanist Pigs; the rise of raunch culture, but I thought it played into what you were discussing in the article quite well...just something to muse on.

Ah there you go,another clever piece of press from le britney spears i see? overall though,let us celebrate how graphically exquisite the cover is!! fact is that i did not honestly recognise her image!good one britney this time?

That was a very good criticism of the cover! I wasn't very interested in it at first glance but the ideas you brought up really made me think about something real. I also kept scrolling up to look at the cover again and again and now I love it.

I don't see a problem with the rolling stones pics, she was 17, and she was a woman, obviously. the problem i see is society worshiping a person who hadn't really contributed anything. sure she was a sex symbol, what is wrong with that? oh as soon as a women turns 18, bam!thats it. now its okay to start taking sexy photos.

its really hard to draw a line with this kind of thing. i mean yeah there is the fetish thingy with young and innocent, but in our society it doesnt stop there. older women are sex symbols too. maybe in japan its a little different though...

You're fantastic. Just finished my MA in Psychology...did some research/work on what you wrote about for my classes and personal development. You might like the book "Female Chauvinist Pigs" by Ariel Levy.

You're fantastic. Just finished my MA in Psychology...did some research/work on what you wrote about for my classes and personal development. You might like the book "Female Chauvinist Pigs" by Ariel Levy.

That is a very, very large issue to tackle, as I'm sure you know-- American "lolita complex" in the American media and how they try to claim deniability for what they do. I am glad you wrote about it! For further reading, might I suggest all articles by Vladimir Nabokov on that sort of hypocrisy. He wrote rather prolificly on that issue, especially when the movie based on his book came out. Although it was some time ago, I feel his comments are still very pertinent.

To change the subject, I'm very confused about the layout they've set Britney in. Is that supposed to be Japanese? "開知" is not a Japanese word, even. Did they run that by Mr. Murakami before sending it to press, or some other native speaker? And putting something that looks vaguely like katakana backwards and upside-down doesn't make it look "cooler" (although for some reason it is a popular trend recently). Also, even if it was meant to resemble magazine layouts such as "Seventeen" or "Popteen" that are popular with high school girls here (I live in Japan, btw), I really don't think it does. They should have done their research better, perhaps. This brings to mind sad mis-appropriations of culture that should, in my opinion, be completely avoided.

The way your mind works is mesmerizing! I was really pleased to find your post on this. I've recently posted about these images, after seeing them on fashiongonerogue, and also found them to be quite revolutionary in the way they are critiquing and displaying pop culture. Thank you.

I was so impressed with your insight that I posted this blog to my FB, made my mother listen whilst I read it to her and interrupted my friends dinner to make her read it as well. General consensus: Gifted! You continuously blow me away. Thanks.

Strikes again :-)http://www.shutterself.com/2010/06/final-frontier-for-now.htmlHere i've posted an old (and quite retarded)video i've made many yers ago for My Hole's most favorite song - Teenage Whore. and this post is written in both english & hebrew, one among a few.